Billiards cue attachment

ABSTRACT

A billiards cue attachment includes a cue ball having a passageway therein for receiving the tip end of a cue. This arrangement eliminates the need for a player to grasp the shaft of the cue with the bridge hand. Only one hand need be employed to grasp the butt of the cue. The billiards cue attachment also offers an alternative to using a bridge stick for short players who are unable to set a hand bridge close to the cue ball, eliminating the need to hold the cue stick with one hand and the bridge stick with the other hand.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/613,370, filed Mar. 20, 2012.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to recreational accessories, and particularly to an attachment for a billiards cue.

2. Description of the Related Art

The game of billiards is a sport played internationally in various forms. Arguably, the most popular billiard games are carom billiards, American-style pool, British-style pool, and snooker. Each of these games employs a cue ball. The cue balls are fabricated from plastic material that is resistant to cracking and chipping. The cue balls have a range of diametric sizes, including 52.5 mm (snooker), 57 mm (American-style), 56 mm (British-style), and 61.5 mm (carom). The cue ball is even smaller (51 mm and 28.5 mm) for children's billiards. Billiard sticks (cues) are generally selected according to comfort. The minimum length for a cue is approximately 40″. There is no official maximum length. The maximum weight of the cue is approximately 25 oz. There is no official minimum weight. The width of the cue tip can range from 9 mm to 14 mm. Shaft sizes (diameter) basically range from 12 to 14 mm.

When playing billiards, the butt end of the cue is gripped with the thumb and fingers of the dominant hand (right or left). The other hand loosely grasps the shaft of the cue stick, forming a bridge for the shaft. Unfortunately, because of physical limitations or impairments, many people can use only one hand to grasp the cue, thereby making the game difficult, if not impossible to play. In addition, when the cue ball is distant from the player's position, it is often necessary to use a bridge stick having a bridge with a plurality of notches that can be positioned near the cue ball in order to guide or aim the cue stick, particularly for short players who cannot reach very far across the pool table. This usually requires using one hand to manipulate the cue stick while the other keeps the bridge stable on the pool table, which may be difficult for children or handicapped players. The billiard art would certainly welcome an attachment that would allow the sport to be enjoyed by people now excluded because of the above noted physical limitations. Thus, a billiards cue attachment solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The billiards cue attachment of the present invention comprises a cue ball having an opening with a threaded stud therein for receiving the tip end of a cue. The tip end of the cue is provided with a threaded passageway for receiving the threaded stud whereby the cue may be removably attached to the cue ball. This arrangement eliminates the need to grasp the shaft of the cue with the bridge hand. Only one hand need be employed to grasp the butt of the cue for impacting an object ball.

Accordingly, the invention presents an attachment to a cue that permits use by persons having physical limitations that prohibit the use of both hands when participating in a billiards game, or who are too short to reach across the table and would otherwise require the use of a bridge stick to set a bridge close to the cue ball position. The invention provides for improved elements thereof in an arrangement for the purposes described that are inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing their intended purposes.

These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an environmental, perspective view of a billiards cue attachment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a billiards cue attachment according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial, exploded, perspective view of the billiards cue attachment of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a partial view of a conventional cue stick with the cue tip removed according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a kit containing an assortment of cue balls.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1-4, the billiards cue attachment 10 includes a conventional cue 12 having a butt end 14 and a tip end 16. The tip end of the cue includes a threaded passageway 16 a in the tip end for receiving a cue tip (not shown) therein. The cue 12 is fabricated to fall within the weight, length and size parameters discussed above.

A specially designed cue ball 20 is provided for use with the above-described cue. The cue ball 20 is fabricated from plastic and has a blind bore 20 a for receiving the tip end 16 of the cue 12. A threaded stud 22 is disposed in the bore 20 a for receiving the threaded passageway 16 a of the cue thereon. This arrangement permits the cue ball 20 to be removably attached to the cue when desired. The cue ball 20 can be fabricated in any of the sizes discussed above based on the type of billiard game to be played. Using the attached cue ball permits a player P to omit the use of the bridging hand (if desired) or a bridge stick when playing a game of billiards in that the cue is thrust with one hand to slide the attached cue ball 20 across the table to impact an object ball B. Alternatively, the billiards cue attachment 10 may be used by holding the butt end 14 of the cue 12 with one hand and forming a bridge to guide the cue 12 with the other hand, but setting the bridge much closer to the butt end 14 of the cue 12 than the tip end 16 and farther from the cue ball position than a bridge stick would be placed, since it is no longer necessary to use the second hand to hold a bridge stick. The cue stick may be reconverted for its original use when desired simply by removing the cue ball and replacing the cue tip.

As best seen in FIG. 5, a kit 30 containing an array of cue balls 20 of the same or various diametric sizes will be made available for billiards aficionados.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims. 

I claim:
 1. A billiards cue attachment, comprising: a cue stick having a tip end and a butt end, the tip end having an internal passage formed therein; a cue ball having a blind bore defined therein; and a stud disposed in the blind bore, the stud being removably received in the internal passage formed in the tip end of the cue stick, wherein the cue ball is removably attached to the cue stick.
 2. The billiards cue attachment according to claim 1, wherein said internal passage is internally threaded.
 3. The billiards cue attachment according to claim 2, wherein said stud is externally threaded, said stud and the internal passage forming a threaded fastener joint.
 4. The billiards cue attachment according to claim 1, wherein said cue ball is fabricated from plastic material.
 5. A billiards cue attachment, comprising: a cue stick having a tip end and a butt end, the tip end having an internally threaded passage; a cue ball having a blind bore defined therein; an externally threaded stud disposed in the blind bore, the stud and the internal passage forming a threaded fastener joint for removable attachment of the cue ball to the cue stick.
 6. The billiards cue attachment according to claim 5, wherein said cue ball is fabricated from plastic material.
 7. A billiards kit, comprising: a plurality of cue balls of different diametrical sizes, each of the cue balls having a blind bore formed therein; and an externally threaded stud disposed in the blind bore of each of the cue balls.
 8. The billiards kit according to claim 7, wherein each said cue ball is fabricated from plastic material, and wherein the diametrical sizes range from about 28.5 mm to 61.5 mm.
 9. The billiards kit according to claim 7, further comprising at least one cue stick having a butt end and a tip end, the tip end having an internally threaded socket disposed therein, the tip end being selectively insertable into the blind bore of each of said cue balls, the threaded socket releasably and alternately mating with the threaded stud of each of said cue balls, whereby said cue balls are selectively and interchangeably fastened to the tip end of the at least one cue stick. 